Background
Baseball season is officially over, but that only means that the offseason has started. And a lot of the time, the offseason is just as good as the regular season. So it's the perfect time to take a look six more Major League Baseball Lubies from Rocket USA. In this go-round, we're winding down our look at all 30 teams with Lubies from the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and an alternate design from the San Francisco Giants.
The Facts
MLB Lubies
Series: Lubies
Manufacturer: Rocket USA
Artist: Joy Michel and Michael Perry
Material: Plush
Dimensions: 5” round
Designs: Kansas City Royals (Lion); San Francisco Giants (Panda); Tampa Bay Rays (Stingray); Texas Rangers (Horse, Longhorn); Toronto Blue Jays (Blue Jay)
Tag
Each of the MLB Lubies features a circular tag with an illustrated stadium scene of the team's actual stadium. Inside, you'll find the team's logo on the left panel and a “Did You Know?” factoid about that baseball team.
Our Opinion
Personally, being a Philadelphia Phillies fan, the 2010 baseball season ended in disappointment. The folks in San Francisco might disagree with that. It's somewhat ironic that this group of MLB Lubies includes both the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers – the two teams that battled it out in the World Series.
The Rangers have a pair of Lubies – a horse and a longhorn. While the horse is appropriate – their mascot is a horse named Captain – the longhorn is synonymous with Texas (especially Texas football). The horse has Texas Rangers embroidered across its chest, while the longhorn only has Texas.
The Kansas City Royals Lubie uses the lion plush that we previously reviewed with Royals embroidered on its chest. Oddly enough, The Toronto Blue Jays have chosen to go with a Blue Jay as their Lubie of choice. I like how this version was executed and it's definitely in my top five of the overall MLB Lubies series.
Tampa Bay went with their namesake – a Ray. I like that they chose to put the embroidered logo on the top of plush, rather than underneath (where no one would be able to see it).
Finally, some folks might be saying...what do the San Francisco Giants have to do with a panda. Well, their third baseman, Pablo Sandoval, was given the nickname Kung Fu Panda (from the Dreamworks film). Being one of their more popular players, the Giants released a panda Lubie with their logo embroidered in two spots – SF on the front and the Giants baseball on the back.
OVERALL: This is a great assortment of animal Lubies. We previously saw a number of teams who chose to go with the standard bear design, but many Major League Baseball teams went with their team specific animal (whether a mascot or team name). This is just a solid representation of the entire MLB Lubies line. Now...how about some of the other professional sports leagues? C'mon NFL, NHL and NBA.
Wondering if we've reviewed your favorite team's Lubies yet?
| AL | ||
| Blue Jays (blue jay) | Indians (bear) | A's (elephant) |
| Orioles (oriole) | Royals (lion) | Angels (bear) |
| Rays (stingray) | Tigers (tiger) | Mariners (moose) |
| Red Sox (bear) | Twins (bear, moose) |
Rangers (horse, longhorn) |
| Yankees (bear) | White Sox (bear) | |
| NL | ||
| Braves (bear) | Astros | Diamondbacks |
| Marlins (marlin) | Brewers (bear) | Dodgers (bear) |
| Mets (bear) | Cardinals (cardinal) | Giants (seal, panda) |
| Nationals (bear) | Cubs (bear) |
Padres (bear) |
| Phillies (bear) | Pirates (bear) | Rockies |
You can pick one up at the following:
MLBShop: $12.99 ea.
Rocket USA: $12.95 ea.
MLB Lubies Grades
Plush Quality: 9/10
Stitching: 8/10
Material: 9/10
Softness: 10/10
Packaging/Tag: 9/10
Cuteness: 9/10
Fun Factor: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9.2/10
Royals: 9.1/10
Giants (panda): 9.1/10
Rays: 9.2/10
Rangers (horse): 9.2/10
Rangers (longhorn): 9.0/10
Blue Jays: 9.3/10
